Why there can be only one true religion, and why not

I’m sure you’ve heard people say before, or perhaps you’ve thought (and maybe still think), that there is one god and that all religions we know today lead to him. Various paths, all leading to the same destination. But is this true? Can this be right? Is it really possible to have various religions, all leading to the same god?

Before you even look at choosing a religion, you have to believe first that there is such a thing as a god. So for the rest of this post I’m going to assume that we’re convinced of the fact that god exists.

Now, even if you were to assume that it’s possible that all religions lead to the same god, you’d have many other questions to answer, one of which would be: Why would god create all those different religions for people to worship him? And if he did, wasn’t he ever worried that it might cause a lot of confusion, among many other problems? Surely he would have been able to foresee that.

If there would merely be differences between all the religions existing today, it would help in trying to argue for the fact that all religions lead to the same destination. But that is not the case. Not only are there differences, but a lot of these differences are in contradiction with each other. Let me illustrate what I mean with a simple example:

Let’s say we have religion A and B. Religion A says that god has blue eyes and a white beard. Religion B says that god has blue eyes and wears a white robe. In this case, I could say that both religions could be true, since god could have blue eyes, a white beard and wearing a white robe.

But if we had a different situation where religion A said that god has blue eyes and a white beard, and religion B said that god has brown eyes and wearing a white robe, we’d have an issue. Obviously both cannot lead to the same destination, since both of them cannot be true. Religion A says that god has blue eyes, and religion B says that god has brown eyes. Both cannot be true. In this case, they are not merely different, but also contradicting. Which one is saying the right thing about god’s eyes?

And so when we look at the many religions we have today, not only are they different, but all of them have various things which are contradicting in relation with other religions. For example, in Christianity, you’re not allowed to worship objects like statues or pictures, and doing so is a sin. But in Hinduism that’s quite normal! In Islam, every person lives just once on earth and faces judgment after death. But in Hinduism, you have reincarnation. In Christianity, Jesus is the son of god and is of great importance, but in Islam, Jesus is just a prophet.

I could go on and on naming contradictions. And these are just obvious contradictions on the surface. When you look deeper, you’ll find even bigger contradictions. You will even find such black and white contradictions, where one religion says something is a sin, while the other encourages it! I gave an example of this in the previous paragraph.

So just look at that! Anyone having to make a choice between these religions faces an enormous problem. Making a bad choice can indeed be quite devastating for you in the end. It could mean choosing to do the right thing, or choosing to sin. If you make the wrong choice, you’re going to be sinning while you probably think you’re worshipping god the right way. For example, if you become a Hindu, you’ll be using statues and pictures while worshipping god, which is a sin in Christianity. And if it later turned out that Christianity was the true religion, that means that you’ve been sinning all your life, while you thought you were worshipping god!

Based on this very simple argument above, I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I conclude that because of the contradictions, some of which are very serious, there can only be one true religion.

But just when you thought it was over, you find out that it’s not.

You see, once you decide on a religion another surprise awaits you. Many of the big religions have sub-religions as well, each with their own interpretation of things, differences and contradictions. For example, in Christianity you have Catholics, Protestant Christians, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and many more. In Islam you have Sunnis and Shias. You have Orthodox and modern Jews. Even in Hinduism you have groups with their own differences.

How can you ever really know which one to choose? In addition it is impossible to be certain about any choice you make, since many differences are based on interpretation of words in holy books, interpretation of intentions, and sometimes even just belief. It’s impossible to make a choice based on any hard evidence, where things are verifiable and you can be 100% sure about your choice.

And remember that you get to deal with all of this after you’ve made a very important assumption first, namely, that god exists. So you begin with an assumption which cannot be verified in any way and which you just have to believe in based on faith. That already is a very weak beginning. And then, you go on to having to confront all of the issues above.

Isn’t it wonderful? A word of advice, if I may: Before you decide to take on this difficult task, you might want to consult your psychiatrist first. Just in case things get ugly.

Comments

When I visted India for study reasons, I visted a Hindu temple, in which there was an exposition about all the reglions. I learned that all the regilions are basically the same. Each one worship one and the same God.

Also your assumption about Hinduism having more than one God is wrong. They believe in 1 GOD, who presents himself in many forms. Even as females.

A good advise for you is to travel around the world and experience the beauty of it. From there you’ll learn that people are everywhere the same. You’ll find out that there must be a higher force (some of us are calling it GOD) who are leading us.
The diferences we have these days are because of the lack of caring for each other and forgetting that there is a GOD.

I think it’s the devil:evil: that wanted us to believe that all religion leads to one God. Because all religions have one thing in common. Serve only the God of that religion. And many religions will warn about serving other Gods or at least do mention the existence of other Gods. Then again. There is at least one religion today that does believe in a God but not in an devil or hell. From a believers point of view i say this. I serve the only true and living God. And if it not so. Then GOD help me on the day of my justice [ GOD being the on and only true GOD which in that case i did not serve].

Dear Karel,
Three blind men were trying to describe an elephant. None of them could envision the elephant as a whole. The first one felt the elephants ear. The second one felt the elephants foot and the third one its trunk. Needless to say that each developed a description of the elephant which quite contradicted the others. Such is life to people. Because people generally lack a complete understanding or view of life, each person develops his own and sometimes these can be quite contradictory. Important to understand is that the root of contradiction or duality is the lack of knowledge or consciousness.

That story about the elephant is often used to try and illustrate how all the religions can be describing the same thing. However, the story assumes that all the three blind men are describing the same object, in this case an elephant. That assumption is its weakness.
We can never know for sure that all religions (try to) describe the same thing.

I agree that the many religions, all with differences and contradictions, can be a result of the lack of knowledge. But when this is admitted, I can’t help but wonder why people would still believe in something they can never be sure of in any way, to be true. Especially when it contains inconsistencies and simply cannot provide answers to important questions.

Karel,
Actually the story isn’t about religions. It is to illustrate man’s inability to comprehend things which surpass his consciousness even though he might be convinced of the opposite. There is no assumption in the story. It is narrated by an observer who is conscious of the whole. Each of the blind men has his own truth of which he is convinced simply because that is what he has experienced through his senses.

I saw it being used to explain why all religions could be leading to the same destination.

But it does make an assumption. There is no observer here on earth who sees the whole. So it would not make sense to say that people are describing the same things when we’re talking about the various religions. There is no way to know what they are really describing. Nobody here is able to see the whole picture. They could all be describing different things, or the same. We don’t know.

Dear Karel,
If someone told you hundred years ago that it would be possible to send men to the moon in the near future, it would be difficult for you to believe it. There are just somethings in life that we don’t understand yet. So i agree completely with you on your advise of visiting the psychiatrist first before.

Karel,
Concerning the elephant and the blind men-Maybe all religions are trying to explain the same thing: 1. Why are we here? 2. What is the purpose of life? and 3. Where are we going?
I believe that people occupy different spheres of development determined by ones genetic and epigenetic inheritance and life experiences and a continuity of the soul and a need, for whatever reasons, for the soul to experiences the physical world through out five senses. So we are now evolving from a sensual developmen ( the five senses) to a multisensory development-which will allow us to see with our “spiritual eyes.”
I have so many problems with any religion where the members feel that theirs is the right one, and they have no tolerance for any beliefs onther than their own. I read a version of the elephant story where rather than believe that their version of the description of the elephant was the correct that they sit down and listen to each other. Then, they may begin, only begin, to understand. I have decided that if one were to study all the religions and eliminate all but common elements one may have a “start” on arriving at the best religion????

Christianity is the only true religion. All nonChristian religions are false and their gods are false gods. How do I know? It is simply. Their gods have no power to bless the people who serve them. What has the god of the Muslim ever done for them? The vast majority of them live in destitution and poverty. What has the gods of India done for the people of India. They live in squalar. What has the gods of any of these religions done for any of the people who serve them? But the Christian nations of the world live in blessings and riches. We have better housing, more food, and a better life them all those who serve false gods. In fact all white Christian nations are FIRST WORLD nations. The vast majority, if not all, nonwhite, non Chistian nations are 3rd world nations. Those nations that do share a flutter of the high standards of living we enjoy in all white Christian nations do so because of the money and business from the Christian nations. Our God has blessed us, we have more food then we know what to do with. The poorest of us live like kings compared to the what the heathen in nonChristian nations. These false gods have no power to bring a single grain of wheat to their table and so they have to depend on the generosity of Christians from North America and Europe to put food in the starving bellies of their children.

Thomas–
I think I can safely assume you mean the USA when you say “our” nation, even though the website you link to is in Tuvalu. The US is not a “Christian nation” even if the majority of the people here are Christian. Certainly not in the sense that say, Saudi Arabia is a “Muslim nation.” And if you go strictly by majority, it is moving toward not even being a “white” nation. So be it. The USA *is* a “Constitutional nation,” where the right to govern is expressed directly in the Constitution, and granted by the people, not by any “God.” Most of the founding fathers were *not* Christian, especially in the sense it is used today. The Constitution is certainly not a Christian document in any sense. In fact some of the greatest divisive forces *against* the Constitution at work today are religious, and often that religion is Christian. In that sense they are oppositive forces. Even though the Constitution grants people the right to believe and practice their religion, this is *always* subject to the rule of law. Furthermore, people do *not* have the prerogative, even through voting and other democratic processes, to mold the US into a “Christian nation.” The Constitution, as directly expressed within it and inherently by its existence, forbids that. If anyone insists that the USA should be a Christian nation, the only recourse, which is still specifically allowed, is to overthrow the government as it stands and replace the Constitution with some other document. Good luck with that.
As to your commentary that your God in some sense rewards his individual believers,(I cannot fathom that a Christian God would dole out these rewards based on whether the majority of some nation or race were believers–Job was just Job, right?) how do you account for the fact that some of the most destitute people in the world, and more to the point in the US, are Christian? Think Appalachia, think Deep South backwater counties, think Bible Belt, think High Plains counties (wait, those last ones are American Indian “heathens.”) Do all those Christian converts in “Dark Africa” suddenly gain health, wealth, and wisdom? Absolutely not. They get the “privilege” of “everlasting reward.” And why is it that some of the most amoral, non-Christian people around become some of the wealthiest? Think Madoff.
Oh and there are plenty of millionaire Indians (both in India, and the ones here who own casinos,) Africans, and heathens.
So in general I find your commentary preposterous, condescending, narcissistic, racist, illogical, and wrong. You are an excellent example however, of “holier than thou.” Good luck with that too.

Another way of looking at this, is realizing the fact that the “white Christian nations” have been bullying and plundering the other poor nations for centuries now, stealing their resources like oil from them and doing them more harm than good. That’s how the Christian god seems to bless these “white Christian nations”.

Another thing is that ALL RELIGION, including Christianity, is based on ancient astrology. The first “religion” that existed was worship of the heavens (sun, moon and stars). And this has been used to deceive people over thousands of years.
You might want to read “Jehovah Unmasked” by Nathaniel Merritt, and “Suns of God” by Acharya S.

I HAVE READ SOME OF YOUR POSTINGS HERE AND I HAVE TO SAY I FEEL YOU WANT HONEST ANSWERS AND YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH. YOU WILL NOT FIND IT IN READING WEIRD BOOKS ABOUT NDE’S OR ANY OTHER MATERIAL WRITTEN BY MAN. YOU MUST SEEK THE SCRIPTURES. YOU MUST DO IT PRAYERFULLY, WHILE TRYING TO LIVE CLEAN. THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAS A DIFFICULT TIME DWELLING IN UNHOLY PLACES. I AM NOT ONE TO JUDGE AND AM NOT SAYING YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OR ANYTHING. JUST HONEST ADVICE- JUST IN CASE YOU NEED IT. THAT IS THE # 1 REASON PEOPLE REMAIN CONFUSED. I HAVE SOUGHT ANSWERS WHILE I HAVE DELIBERATELY BEEN DOING THINGS I KNEW WOULD BE CONTRARY TO GOD IF HE EXISTED. I JUST GOT MORE CONFUSED. VERY HYPOCRITICAL BEHAVIOR. READ WHAT CHRIST TEACHES, TRY TO LIVE IT EVERYDAY WHILE YOU SEARCH. STUDY THE SCRIPTURES AND AS FOUND IN JAMES 1:5-6. HE WILL ANSWER IF YOU DO NOT WAVER -READ VERSE 6. WE CANNOT ASK GOD QUESTIONS FOR CURIOSITY SAKE. HE KNOWS EACH OF US INTIMATELY, HE KNOWS WHO WILL DO WHAT WITH THE ANSWERS HE GIVES US THROUGH THE SPIRIT. IF I ASK WHAT IS TRUE WITH NO INTENTION OF GIVING UP WORLDLY PLEASURES, I WILL BE CONFUSED UNTIL I DIE. NOTHING WAVERING. SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND, KNOCK AND IT SHALL BE OPENED UNTO YOU. SEEKING AND KNOCKING REQUIRE ACTION, NOT JUST ASK AND THERE YOU GO. NOTHING WORTH RECEIVING HAS EVER COME EASY. NOTHING AS HOLY AND SACRED AS SURE ANSWERS FROM GOD HIMSELF EVER JUST COMES EASY. HE EVEN COMMANDS US NOT TO CAST OUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE. CAN WE EXPECT HIM TO DO SO? YOU DO SAY THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW. I SAY THERE IS. I SAY GOD ANSWERS HIS CHILDREN BECAUSE HE LOVES THEM. BUT GOD IS NOT OBLIGATED TO ANSWER EVERYTHING. WE ARE NOT MEANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING AND NOT MEANT TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING. IF WE DID, WHAT FAITH WOULD THAT REQUIRE?? WHAT GROWTH WOULD THERE BE FOR US? SURE I WANT MY CHILD TO LEARN ALL OF LIFE’S LESSONS BY ME EXPLAINING IT TO HIM- SO HE PASSES ON THE PAINFUL PARTS. BUT THAT JUST IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY FOR HIM TO LEARN. I WOULD NOT WANT HIM TO KNOW LOVE BY ME TELLING HIM ABOUT IT. I WANT HIM TO EXPERIENCE IT BY TAKING A CHANCE ON A YOUNG WOMAN WHO LIVES RIGHT AND EXPERIENCING IT ON HIS OWN, AND BY ME AND HIS MOM SHOWING HIM LOVE BY BEING GOOD PARENTS. GOD ALSO KNOWS THAT IS HOW WE, HIS CHILDREN IGNORANT TO HIS WAYS, WILL LEARN. BUT HE WILL TELL US IMPORTANT THINGS WE NEED SO WE CAN FIND THE RIGHT PATH ON WHICH TO LEARN THOSE LESSONS ON OUR OWN. I TELL YOU THIS ONLY BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN THERE. I WANTED TO KNOW. I PROMISED FATHER IN HEAVENTHAT IF HE TOLD ME A PARTICULAR CHURCH WERE TRUE, I WOULD FORSAKE THE LIFE MY CARNAL PARTY MAN WANTED TO LIVE AND I WOULD SERVE HIM. HE BELIEVED ME AND HE ANSWERED ME. NOW I KNOW. IT IS HARD, I GET TEMPTED ALL THE TIME, BUT DAILY I STRIVE TO UPHOLD MY END OF THE DEAL. I AM ON THE EARTH FOR A REASON, TO SHARE THIS KNOWLEDGE WITH MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS ON THE EARTH. NO I AM NOT SOME FANATICAL NUT JOB. I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM OUT THERE. I HAVE FELT THE MAIN REASON IT IS SO HARD TO BELIEVE IN THE RELIGION I KNOW TO BE TRUE IS BECAUSE OF ALL THE NUT JOBS THAT ARE EASY TO FIND IN IT. REMEMBER THE WORDS OF THE SAVIOR THOUGH, THE WHOLE NEED NO PHYSICIAN. READ THE NEW TESTAMENTE, PRAY FOR AN ANSWER ONLY IF YOU ARE ABLE TO LIVE UP TO WHAT IS REQUIRED. YOU WILL BE ANSWERED. THAT IS A PROMISE FROM GOD AND HIS SON. AS TOLD BY JESUS, SELL ALL THAT THOU HAST AND FOLLOW ME. AM I WILLING TO DO THAT? HE DOES NOT ASK YOU TO SELL ALL YOU HAVE, HE WANTS YOU TO BE WILLING TO THOUGH. THAT INCLUDES SELLING ALL YOUR BAD HABITS, CARNAL PLEASURES, ETC AND FOLLOWING HIM. REPENTING SINCERELY WHEN YOU FALL, FEELING GODLY SORROW WHEN YOU DO, THEN ALLOWING HIS SACRIFICE TO PURGE THE PAIN AND HEAL YOU WHEN YOU RE-COMMIT. THAT IS THE TRUTH. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO IT, HE WILL ANSWER YOU. I TESTIFY THIS AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF HIM TO YOU.

SORRY SO LONG. READ THE NEW TESTAMENT, GET YOUR LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST, REPENT, PRAY FOR ANSWERS, THEN READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. NO MAN MADE BOOKS ABOUT NDE’S, ANTI MORMON STUFF, ANYTHING OTHER THAN SCRIPTURE. DO THIS AND I PROMISE YOUR MIND WILL QUICKEN, YOUR HEART WILL FEEL UNDENIABLE, YES – UNDENIABLE – KNOWLEDGE YOU SEEK. YOU WILL NEVER SAY PEOPLE CAN’T KNOW AGAIN. YOU WILL KNOW. REMEMBER THIS MY SISTER – WHERE MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS REQUIRED. BE READY TO LIVE UP TO THE KNOWLEDGE OR YOU WILL REMAIN CONFUSED.

karen i think now you realise that everybody thinks they are right. You cannot change beliefs that easily. see the mormon reply. he thinks he knows god best and he really wants you to get to know god, he is sincere and blind like the ones in the story.:lol:

Hello,
Every single one of you are thinking too hard and have over looked the fact that PEOPLE have done everything on earth. PEOPLE do things, and no god has ever made me do anything. I have never worshiped a god, i have never prayed to a god, I have never believed there was a god, and yet my life is just great. Nobody around me has been harmed because i don’t believe in a god, and “surprisingly” if have not been struck down by god. The only way i could start to believe in a god is if he shows up in front of a large mass of diverse people and does something miraculous and there is proof there is ample proof, but since i know that is not going to happen, we just have to realize that there is no true religion.
If you really think about it, some things are just impossible. For example, we will never be able to travel “back in time” and if you think it is possible then you are probably a Christian because you have overlooked the fact that time is just a method of organization just as you have overlooked the logic that supports that there is no god.
READ THE FOLLOWING
-“To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born a virgin.” – Cardinal Bellarmine at Galileo’s trial, 1615. (which we now know is false)
-People the bible tells Christians to kill; all non-Christians (Luke.19:27), those accused of wickedness by at least two people (Deut.17:2-7), disobedient children (Deut.21:20-21, Lev.20:9, Exod.21:15)…..Now how much sense does that make?
-42 children were killed by god for calling a prophet “baldy”. Now that is a GREAT example of promoting peace.
-Christ is one of the worst possible models ever, and the bible proves it; Those who abandon their families will be rewarded (Matt.19:29), “I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Christ – Matt.10:34), If you dont have a sword, sell your clothes to buy one (Luke.22:36).
Now that is a GREAT model
Since you all seem to know about every religion possible, look up Mithraism and compare the story of the virgin birth to Jesus and tell me that there are no similarities…(keep in mind Mithraism come way before Christianity was even thought of)
If this is not enough proof that there is no “one true religion” then i might have to conjure up some more because some people are just too dumb to understand and accept “no” for an answer for a change…

Bulldog:
I ran thru this page looking for some answers to some doubts that I was having, nedless to say I found what I was looking for somewhere else, but your posting caught my attention. Let me point out a couple of things. One is that we as humans are made to worship, from the beginning of times we all have worshiped something, you said you have never worshiped a God, but in reallity your god could be, money? sex? woman? anything else that you put your mind and love into, even working. You may not pray to God but, when you get a check that you were specting a raise, you talk to your self hoping to get it, or that the one you want to marry says yes, or the promotion, your not praying to God but your praying for things to go the way of your God. Know you say you have never believed there is a God, well there you said it all, the devil is not gona waste his time with you, since he already has you, he has better things to do with others that are not in his grasp in making them miserable. Try God and you will see how miserable the devil can make you. ( just remember christ blood was spilled for you and makes you stronger) My belief is that if I have problems in my life that makes my faith stronger. Now if you have not been struck down by God, is because he loves you and is waiting on you, you have until judgement day to do so. Once that day is up, well lets just say you will be struck then. Now your basically saying that seeing is believing, well in Jhon 20:29 it says:29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Thats more than enough for me to believe. What is the logic that support that there is no God?

Now luke 19:27 is not telling Christians to non-Christians the fact is that Jesus is telling a story about a man and his faithfull servants ( Luk 19:27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay [them] before me.) you cant just read that single verse, you have to read the whole story, and its a story about servant, master employee and employer for those who are politically correct. Another thing is that your mentioning the old testament and how things were before Jesus came. Our laws today are based on those principals and you cannot be convicted on one person’s accusation, God used to appear to us before Jesus came, and then no more. The old testament was Gods way of teaching us law and ways of life, Jesus came and lived with us so no man could say that God did not know what it was like to be human. When he did so he died for our sins, and if you believe so you shall have everlasting life. I just love how you reword the statements, I have to give you credit you are good at misinterpreting the bible Christ is one of the worst possible models ever, and the bible proves it; Those who abandon their families will be rewarded (Matt.19:29), ?I came not to send peace, but a sword��? Christ was clearly talking about literal weapons. But He was not encouraging His disciples to defend themselves through violence, which would have contradicted His previous instruction, in Matthew 5:38-39, against harming others.
Now to my last point, Mithraism? the God mithra whom was worshiped by roman soldiers? this cult lasted about three hundred years and what does it have to do with the bible? nothing, it may have been before Jesus but, the old testement was before mithraism, and the old testament tells us about Jesus and everything that is to come is like a puzzle, follow this link if interested about the old testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus. ( http://biblia.com/jesusbible/prophecies.htm ) since there are to many to post. Now there are many stories before Jesus, but in context they could have come from the prophecies in the old and I mean OLD testament. And last but not least you seem pretty upset with religions of the world and all the confusion, to me is all about the blessings, who has the most.

God bless you my friend and hopefully I have planted a small seed in you on how I look at things.

Hey Mateo,
I think i may have forgotten some details in my last post. The following are details that you may have overlooked while responding to my last message.
1. While Christians do mostly have good intentions (which there is nothing wrong with), there are some who misjudge others. I’m sorry to point this out to you but I believe that you have misjudged me, along with other atheists. You said that the devil already “has” me, but see, I have a great life,
I get to sleep in on Sundays, I have lots of friends, I don’t ever get sick, nothing bad has ever happened to me that I didn’t cause. The problem with the thought that the devil “has” atheists is that we don’t believe in either God or the devil.
2. The point I was trying to make with mentioning Mithrasim is that there are similarities between the it and Christianity (esp. the virgin birth) and depending on what theory you believe of when Mithraism was created, it was either created about the time of Christ or before the time of Christ.
3. I don’t believe in anything. I don’t worship sex, money, or woman (which would be kinda creepy), or anything else for that matter.
4. To sum up a small part of the logic that supports that there is no god is one word, Logistics. For instance, Judgment Day. How will God judge all the people in the world in 24 hours (remember that is about 6,700,000,000 people). Another word is Evidence. The evidence that Jesus died is fairly great, but the evidence that he came back from the dead is very shallow. The only evidence we have that he actually came back is in the journals of 5 (it may be a few more or few less) people and if I remember correctly 3 of them were Christians and the other 2 were friends passing by, and all of them claimed that they saw Jesus. This could be simply explained by the Christians figured that if they claim they saw Jesus rise from the grave, it would fulfill prophecies. So they could have persuaded, paid, or convinced the 2 passing strangers to write in their journals and start spreading the word that Jesus came back from the dead. But that is just one possibility, there are plenty of others. I understand if you think that is complete bogus, it may be, but it also makes you think. What if that scenario is true? I don’t know why you would worship some guy that has been dead for that long…
5. I just LOVE your sarcasm about the verses from the bible. Firstly, who wrote the bible? I forget….O YEAH! People wrote it! I’m going to add that I am ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that GOD had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WRITING OF THE BIBLE. Wow it is amazing how helpful common sense can be when you are trying to figure something out…
6. Half of the laws of the Old Testament are common sense and the other half are ludicrous and dumb.
7. I might go to church this week, just to see what you mean, but ill give you something to do. Take a step back and question what they tell you. You don’t have to do it out loud, just in your head. Make sure it is not a lie and make sure that it helps prove Christianity because just because a story is true doesn’t make something else (Christianity) true.

Bulldog:
Well it’s late here, and I was fixing to go to bed, I was debating to put this of until tomorrow but, I have always been a person who likes debates.
1.Christians are not perfect, they are forgiven. Yes judging others is a trait that everyone has, we all do it at one point or another, it’s only human, we judge them for their good and we judge them for their bad. Unfortunately most people think that Christians can’t judge because they are Christians. Now I am not misjudging you, I am misjudging what you believe, technically I am debating what you believe. In the same way you are debating in why Christ was not the perfect Christian model. Now you say ?I have a great life,I get to sleep in on Sundays, I have lots of friends, I don?t ever get sick, nothing bad has ever happened to me that I didn?t cause��?. My point exactly. Test God live a Christian life, and I can tell you that Satan or his minions will creep in there slowly. He has no quarrel with you, you don’t believe in his enemy, therefore
he wins.

2.Now I understand that you say that Mithra ism is similar to Christianity and I agree they are similar and Mithra ism may have come along before Christ, but what I am saying is that EVERYTHING about Christ was profeticed in the old testament, and many religions have the similar baseline as the Christians, except that Christ actually accomplished all of the prophecies.

3.You believe there is no God and you are putting your faith on it.

4.Judgment day: God is omnipotent, meaning he can be everyone at once, therefore judge us all at once. Plus who am I to question God on how hes going to do what he says he can do. As far as who saw Christ it was let me see: the two guards guarding his tombstone, Mary Magdalene, and the other mary, and the eleven disciples. So that was a total of 15 people ( and there is a lot more, to many to place here follow this link http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html) and two of them were paid to say that the body was stolen while they slept. Oh and lets not forget the first easter Sunday, where people were waiving palms and placing them on the ground before Jesus. Here is the passage on the fifteen that saw him first.The link above will lead you to all the others.
Matthew 28
The Resurrection
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
The Guards’ Report
11While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
The Great Commission
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
5 Yes the Bible was written by man, but inspired by God. God had his chosen that he used to write his word on. How easy it would be to believe in God if he actually wrote the law on a stone table? Then what? We would have no faith, because we would spect God to intervene for us, by him not showing himself to us we have to have faith.
6 The Old Testament, is a book of history on how the New Testament was going to be, so pretty much once Christ came every changed gear to the New Testament.
7 I am glad your going to church on Sunday. And I am glad you are questioning what they are teaching, now days there is so much nonsense out there they can guide you right into hell, I always tell my wife and friends, don’t believe what I say, or the pastor go find out for your self and see if its true, that doesn’t mean that you have to insult your pastor, that means that you should have a talk with him privately about what you feel is being thought wrong.

Now I would like to say something of my experience. The Bible is the living word of God, therefore I want you to focus on a book of the The New Testament preferable after the four gospels, (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) if you want try focusing on a single verse, and meditate on this verse for a day and write down what you thought of this verse. Now give it a week and read the same verse over and write down your feelings that time. Then compare the too, to me it is the living word because the meaning that we receive changes, every time I read something that I have already read, I get a different understanding from it, its interesting.
And last but not least this website is about a fellow Atheists that was out to discredit Jesus and ended up becoming a Christian. He uses science to prove God exists. Its very interesting I would recommend checking it out.
P.S. Just one question….What if you are wrong and there is a God?

I have been doing some research and what I have found is this: The evidence for everything is a quote from the bible. I don’t know about you but this is very annoying because to me, the bible is a very well written book but is also not supported by physical proof. I was reading your first link and one paragraph caught my attention. There was a paragraph that said a boulder was moved..and somehow they twisted that into proving that god existed on the basis that they did not see anybody do it and they don’t think that people could move it…It is “evidence” like this that makes me doubt that there is a god. But the topic of the page has still not been successfully addressed.
My reason for there only being one true religion is summed up by one word – Contradictions. There are contradictions between almost every religion in the world and that is why I don’t believe that there is one true religion, and it also helps with the idea of no religion being true.

Hey Bulldog
Try this website, it has physcal proof about what the bible says, they guy used to b athias. > Now as for the stone rolled away it says. Mathew 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day , of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

Now this is why the guards were nearly scared to death when it happened. As far as many religions, yes there is many religions, but only one way to God. There was a point in time where I was having doubs about my beliefs, and that if I was wrong I could end up in the wrong place, and after doing much reasearch I came to be where I am. Believing and in Christ. Now do yo really think that there is no God because of all the contradictions? or just believe that you came from apes? and that when you die thats it, game over? To me it sounds that you want to believe in something, but it seems very dificult to actually believe in something. The problem I have is that I am lazy doing research, but I am the type of person that likes to prove and back up what I am saying, this is the reason I believe God has placed you in my path, you have misunderstood some verses and I went and research and explained to you, (Through the holy spirit).

…Yet again a quote from the bible… but i did not go to church last sunday…And there is only one way to Shiva, only one way to … ill make a list of things i believe that we apparently have conflicting opinions on to make it simple: You die, that\’s it, nothing more. Souls don\’t exist. Evolution. The Bible. Who wrote the bible. \”Christ\”. Why we crossed paths(Bulldog:I ran thru this page looking for some answers to some doubts that I was having,…)-Mateo. Evidence of biblical events. And probably some more but i am tired so i am going to bed.

JEHOVAHS WITNESSES ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE ON THE EARTH WHO WILL NOT ENGAGE IN WARFARE AND KILL FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS. THEY ARE NEUTRAL IN WORLD POLITICS AND AT PEACE WITH EACH OTHER ALL OVER THE WORLD IN 250 COUNTRIES, WHILE OTHER PEOPLES OF OTHER RELIGIONS KILL EACH OTHER. SO WHO HAS THE TRUE RELIGION? IF ALL PEOPLE OF THE EARTH WERE JEHOVAH WITNESSES THERE WOULD BE NO WARS.
CASE CLOSED PERIOD.

Okay…so you think that Jehovah witnesses is the one true religion because they don’t fight people? I don’t understand your logic… But lets create a scenario. Let us say that the entire world were Jehovah witnesses and nobody fought anybody, you are correct, there would be no wars.But if one person got angry enough at the world,(don’t say Jehovah witnesses don’t get angry because all people do) there would be massacres, not wars.

There are many contradictions not only between all major mainstream religions but within the same religion itself from what I read but it is possible I am being misled by the devil you might say or perhaps not understanding the misinterpretations in the bible itself because lets face it the language God apparently created was only to confuse us? Well the AMARAIC language no longer exists which was the original spoken and written language of the bible not Hebrew or Greek so we may never know the truth.

BUT WAIT: What I said is wrong? Amaraic is not a dead language according to this site? Does this mean we can prove if the bible is correct and real spoken? word of God? Maybe not so easily since there are no original scripts left are there? There was only one intact dead sea scroll as well. And I think that was in Hebrew? not Amaraic? Which means it could all have been misinterpreted and mis-translated all wrongly in error by man.http://www.phrasebase.com/archive/aramaic/aramaic_is_not_extinct.html

I have a question, why did God allow original religion if it was sick, evil and false? Or science whichever you prefer to call it because religion and science were the same back then and I see them bothing becoming the s ame again since any belief system can be classed as religion so can the belief of religion. Why did GOD allow occult=secret or magick, pagan, paganism, wiccan, Witchcraft, spells to be used and done for centurie or thousands of years without saying it was wrong? Are humans really that dumb or clever whether you believe magick works or not and believe in after life or not to have to learn right from wrong by making mistakes in life, acutally I always knew right from wrong but I put that down to mostly my upbringing from my mum and her always telling me or pressuring me always to do what was right, or at least try to haha.

Also worth noting is that all religions even Christianity allowed occult style sacrifice of humans, children, women and non believers, as well as rape and burning of towns, all of that is actually advocated by the all caring and loving God? At least it is in the Old Testament and I still think Christians explanation of change of laws, etc cannot explain or justify such evil acts. How can you be sure the bible was not written by the devil?

Also worth remembering is that many organisations of Churches of Christianity do not believe in the devil just as some Muslims and Jews do not, so many contradictions within all religions, even the same ones and each church says they are correct. Where does the bible or God ever say to be part of a church anyway? The latter day saints don’t belive in satan either because apaprently they go off the new bible and disregard the Old Testament as most modern Churches do, but many Christians class the LDS chruch as a cult, are not all religions a cult then?

All modern religion is from ancient occult style ones that had sacrificial givings to the gods, all but a few, but then it all depends on what you read and belive but there is no denying the Old Testament tells Christians to burn down towns, rape women, kill people, etc. And according to the bible now all that is evil, so what to believe….

Is it true pagans, wiccans or earth dwellers are peace loving, caring people and really do not worship satan as christians claim? Seems very likely but then christians say they are dealing with unknown forces, entities, spirits, etc which satan controls.
Paganism Pagan Wicca Wiccan Magic Magical
Derived from the Latin word for country dweller, Paganus, Paganism is an ancient pre-Christian, polytheistic religion which also includes the neo-Pagan offshoots of modern Witchcraft and Wicca.

Please read the religion sections of these sites for understanding of basic backgrounds of various religions and beliefs. More sites will follow from me if debate continues on here.

Don’t forget Catholic Christian is not a Christian at all but a satanist. Do some research to find out why if you don’t already know why.

I found this as well on a quick random search, Google is random as far as it can be according to its algorithm, etc. I don’t understand the tech side as much anyway of code so here is the URL:

http://www.thenazareneway.com/dark_side_of_christian_history.htm
The Reformation did not convert the people of Europe to orthodox Christianity through preaching and catechisms alone. It was the 300 year period of witch-hunting from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, what R.H. Robbins called “the shocking nightmare, the foulest crime and deepest shame of western civilization.” The Church created the elaborate concept of devil worship and then, used the persecution of it to wipe out dissent, subordinate the individual to authoritarian control, and openly denigrate women.

I hope to see all or at least some of you guys replying here again to debate this topic.

I came across the web links posted below which I think is interesting, I can no longer say to myself or anyone else that I am able to interpret any religion or the Bible correctly with concrete satisfaction at all because when the whole picture is critically anyalised it all falls apart or there are many contradictions, mistranslations and wrong interpretations by the translators and writers and also over all history we have Kings that have authorised versions to suit their own agenda, how then can it still be God’s word? Wake up people to the truth and history of it all, we have and still ar being manipulated but you fear even looking for the truth or even porperly researching a shred or strand of it. Lets not forget we do not have the original Amaraic version either. And there are older religions than Christianity that we all say are flawed and false now, when will the time come we say all current religion of today is flawed or false? Or will we be able to work and find evidence to prove it right and gather the missing information that was all deliberately missed out from the Bible. There is a lot of work to be done in my opinion before you can say yes I blindly believe or no I do not belive. It is not as simple as that and neither side is doing enough, but we do not have all the resources to do this yet we can demand it from the organised religions to stop feeding us junk and finally come clean.

Some of the videos are poor quality so possibly you can search for ones of better quality. It is the words that count more than the video though.

This site claims to be a correct account and version of Christianity and Christ Conciousness but many Christians would argue is new age but that is after all what what meant to happen in the world, no end to the world only an awakening, no deadly disease? At least the appocalypse does not mean the end of the world it mean the great revelation.

The site also claims Satan and Lucifer are two different entities and totally separate from oen another. Also claism Jesus was not the only Son of God and is not God at all. Well I have always had a problem understanding why you can say Jesus was God, I know it was meant to be God incarnated as a human but still. Anyway God did not create Hell according to this site: No humans and Lucifer did by not following God’s law and the talk of vibrational frequencies is talked about a low as well and heaven coexisting in the same space as this planet – it does make a sense I have to say – at least a lot of it does but there are still many unaswered questions for me.

The site states that magick has good or beneficial uses as long as it is white magic which is a contradiction to popular Christian belief but so is most of the site which claims Christians have mistaken, misinterpreted it wrongly and also following mistranslations, as we know not or if any words can be directly translated over from language to language accurately, simply because such definition sof the same words and meanings do not exist.

Of course magic has to be ok with God as long as it does not go against free will right? Why else did Jesus use magic and others in the bible before, durign and after Christ? Well it is the Church of Satanism or the vatican that stopped all of that with their false religion which is a perverted version of Christianity. They may well be responsible for the religion of Satanism itself since they do worship Satan and not God or Jesus. But rather worship Mary more than those and the figure of Satan which may or may not have been invented by them. Well most Christians believe both white and black magic is bad and evil of Lucifer or Satan. Since Christians have it wrong or flawed as well they also believe Lucifer had the power to rebel by not serving humans, but in Islam this was impossible because he cannot be an angel since angels cannot rebel because they have NO free will, this is why Muslims class Iblis or Satan or Lucifer as a Djinn, Jinn or what we call Genie spirit race, which are also meant to be different and inferior to devils. So that leave sus with even more questions and contradictions. I do see where the Muslims ahev a point though how Lucifer could not be an angel at all because angels do as God says and can never disobey. The same problem seems to exist though with both religions that they both think Satan and Lucifer are the same while this site states Satan just follwed Lucifer just as Jesus followed God.

The site also mentions how organised religion uses fear to force believers so they do not think they will go to hell they are forced to believe or they live in terror because they believe anyway. This site confirms that hell is nothing or slightly different at least than we think it is and is in fact lower vibrational frequencies than the material world we now live in the 3rd dimension, hell being further away from God and at lower vibrational rates. So does this site class God as the Universe itself since it is rapidly growing and expanding, it seems there is some similarity here because it mentions if you are in hell or at a lower vibrational rate when you die then you go to hell and are further away from God while the space keeps expanding in size. It also mentions how a part of you, your mind or conciousness is in heaven or with the creator God. Browse the site it has many pages, and some questions from visitors with answers.

It seems everyones version makes a lot of sense in whole but not all areas and has some contradictions, maybel I could come up with my own interpretations and own version as everyoen else has done and maybe rewrite the bible as it has been thorughout all history.

This guy Michael Tsarion makes sense quite a bit of sense and uses many other mythologies as do other religions based on Christianity such as Islam, because it is true God did create other spiritual entities or beings if you believe in religion at all – you simply cannot ignore this, for all you know God may have created billions of beings in many dimensions, planets, galaxies. We are not all that special but many do say we were designed to be co-creators with God some day if the plan goes accordingly.

All I can say is for sure is that God likes to make it very hard for all of us.

The Lord, through modern day revelation to a prophet, has said that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is “…the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually…” This is not to say that other religions or churches are bad because they aren’t. This is because all religions and churches contain an element of truth but only the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints contains a fullness of truth as revealed by the Lord himself. The beauty of the church’s message is that you don’t have to take it on faith – just ask the Lord himself and he will tell you it is true. I have done that and he confirmed the validity of the previous statement to my. I invite you to do the same. Here’s how you can have the same experience I did:

Hi All of you, I also searched the answer on this for a long time. Since I was 5 year old I had many bizar experiences. Out of fear I denied a lot of those experiences, I tried to block them. I couldn\’t, it was always comming back to me. Dreams of things that would happen, and always happened. Also telepathie was a thing that was very difficult for me to understand. I didn\’t know the difference between thoughts and sayings when I was a child. This caused a lot og angryness towards me, as I answered to the thoughts of people. Now I\’m 28 and still it\’s comming back to me. At the age of 21 I had a lot of questions about this and I searched, I studied also all religions even witchcraft. My foundings were that indeed there are a lot of contradictions. But don\’t look at those, just look at all the things they have in common. All religions are speaking about praying or meditation, about asking god and the prophets or angels for help. All religions say that everyone can talk to god and ask for help. They are all speaking of the third eye, that makes it able to communicate with eachother on a long distance and do a lot of other stuff. It has even been proven by many scientists. The most important thing they have in common is that they all speak about the apocalyps that will happen, that men\’s consciousness will grow more, and that the good ones will have peace at that day and the bad ones will stay in huge miserie. But God will forgive those who love him and try to do the good. All religions speak about 7, 7 levels or heavens. You need to pass through them to go to paradise…. I hope this info will help you in your quest. Greetz, Filouke

To begin ,i would like to say that the word religion comes from the word religare wich means reunite in other words a religion should seek to reunite the soul with his-her god..to have an understanding of what the father mother god is .i would start by saying that father mother god are the whole, the infinite the absolute. departing from this knowledge,i will say: in the oness of god there is no separativity, so no body, absolutly nobody is separated from the whole, so filling separated from the whole is just an illusion. ask your self the next: If at the begining there was only god , nothing but him, where did he take from to create, he had to take from himself, correct?.thus we all are him , god is gods, that is why our lord jesus christ said: you are gods.thus if we were created out of him , we had to be created equal, further more we had to be created with the same atributes that he has. for the brothers an sisters that are confused let me tell you this, our dear father mother god has no rival, there is no such thing as other god, wake up, god has no oponent, and in a natural way he does not think about it,what we all know as evil and good has nothing to do with the supreme well that our father mother is. let me ask you this:why is it that god is love, because there is no way that he is going to hate him self, god loves him self,that is why he love us , and we most understand that,and love our selves and our brothers and systers, in doing that we are really loving god, simple equation ,there is no other way. why god is love? because there are no other god or gods to compete with or to fight with ,thus,father mother god can not hate. so what is my point , my point is : that there could be much contradiction in all religions, but what anybody proves with that?, that no religion is good , and by being right makes the person feel good and important regardless if that person continues to be confused. seek the truth and the truth will set you free, but not only that the truth will satisfy your soul your hart and your mind,and will give you strengt to continue the quest for the progresive revelation of truth..there is nothing to be ashame, we are all confused in many matters in this world,the real thing to be ashame of is to remain stationary, we need to move, ask, ask ,ask and meditate about the answers. you want to find more truth, deprt from the begining. at the begining it was only god nothing but him. i give you some tips ;WHY GOD IS HARMONY?,WHY GOD IS JUST?,WHY SUICIDE IS NOT PART OF GOD? Why faith comes from within?I wil tell you about this one, god is the only one ,correct? nothing binds him, ccrrecr? he is absolutly free,correct ? thus our dear father mother god can do whatever he wants with himself, that is where faith comes from, from the securiy that he can do anything he wants with himself, because at the begining it was only him , so why should be differnt now. remenber god isthe whole, the totality ,the infinite the absolute,in the oness of god there is no separativity,come on and walk the path that leads back home to our father mother god true the hart of our lord jesuschrist. oness, oness,oness.

Hello
You really seem like some one who wana know GOD or whats the real TRUE religion.
and you have been reading so many Books
You seem like a smart person 🙂
Pls just read the Quran translation. Its just reading like you have read bible and other scriptures and other books. Just a couple of hrs or so. Nothing to lose right 🙂
May God show you the right path.

When evaluating religion, consider to following points and then make your decision

-What does the archeology say ? http://www.biblearchaeology.org/
Does archeology support what is written in the scripture of the religion ?
Please look at both side, some people use false historical information to discredit the bible, listen to both sides and the decide where the truth is.

-Are there detailed prophecy in the scriptures of the religion ? http://100prophecies.org/
Prophecy I mean,does the scripture tell what will happen in the future, only God knows the future.
The bible has a lot of prophecy, for example prophecy about Israel, study the fall and rise of Israel for example.

Study Judaism first, you cannot understand Christianity without examining the original Tanakh. That’ll shake your attachment.
You’ll see why the Jews are still waiting for their messiah, blood sacrifices aren’t needed, and knew Christians changed their Tanakh to fit their political agenda of that time.
Also, if that God is all-powerful and -knowing, he would’ve let the scriptures fall the sky and the prophecies are irrelevant.

I haven’t read all the comments yet, very interesting! But yeah I am not sure if we went to the moon, but let me state it differently: If someone told you 200 years ago that it would be possible to talk to your relatives in Europe using a small device would you believe it. I think there are things that are not yet discovered
.

the nice thing about religion is that you have to have faith, to believe in something that one cannot verify, like love, marriage, life, careers, friendship, trust, etc all based on faith…it would just be too easy if there was 100% proof, because then we would all believe….and what would be so amazing about that…that’s also why its called a ‘leap of faith’…so far its worked just perfect for me, but hey you don’t have to believe me…

“you have to believe first that there is such a thing as a god” is a great start to discuss the topic. But unless the assumption is not refined and fixed to, there is only one true god, its very hard to answer that question. There are many gods, one of them must be the true one. Then the true religion is the one following the true god.

I havent read through your articles yet as I have only just come across your site but no doubt will read all of it soon.

I dont particularly subscribe to the notion of religion in the organised sense. I have always observed religion as a controlling element for those who require it.
Speaking for myself only I can say that I adhere to a code of conduct that is laissez fair.
For myself morality is the only way to observe life, since morality is defined by life itself.
The coercive enterprises that dominate our society constructs restrict our understanding of morality instead replacing it with ethics which of course can be anything.

Yes, as I found out later, everyone is born with access to a universal sense of morality. Problems arise when an outside “authority” (the State, religion etc.) wants to force their definition of morality on others. I wrote about the universal sense of morality in my post “On Human Nature and Morality: Humans are Intrinsically Good”.